Open Your Senses

Posted on February 29, 2016 by billtonnis

sun-rise-ocean

God is bathing us in Love.

~~~

Psalm 42:2-3
As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God. My being thirsts for God, the living God.

~~~

We each have a deep yearning inside…a yearning that longs to be satisfied.

It seems that we either try to numb that yearning…cover it up…or try to satisfy it with material or physical things.

However, the yearning is on the “soul” level. It’s a spiritual longing.

As St. Augustine put it: “Our heart is restless until it finds rests in You (God).” Ultimately we will find our way back to oneness with our Loving Creator.

We and all that is…spring from a Source of Love. This Unconditional Love can be experienced in a limited way through our senses.

How is it that you experience God?

Is it in music, art, nature, touch, dance, words, scripture, silence…or something else?

Maybe all of those!

Be present to the Divine Presence.

Allow God to nourish you.

Allow your senses to be bathed in God’s Love.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Breathe On Me” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Economy of Grace

Posted on February 26, 2016 by billtonnis

purple-grapes-vineyard

If you want peace…produce peace.

~~~

Matthew 21:43
“Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit.”

~~~

The only ones Jesus repeatedly reprimanded for their behavior were the priests and Pharisees.

They held tight to laws and rituals even when it meant being cold-hearted to those in need.

What is the “fruit” of the kingdom of God?

Love…mercy…grace…forgiveness and compassion.

Are we producing such fruit with our lives?

When we do…we are experiencing a taste of God’s kingdom in the here and now.

Perhaps if we let go of our ego’s desires we would be open to cooperate with God’s desires for our lives.

Then the kingdom of God would truly be at hand!

May my will be one with the Creator of all things.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Make Me a Channel” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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True Self

Posted on February 25, 2016 by billtonnis

river_trees

What is the dream God planted in you?

~~~

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream.

~~~

God plants seeds in our hearts.

They are God’s dreams for us.

However, our egos generally have more self-centered dreams.

God’s seeds are many times ignored. They wither.

They become buried under mounds of materialism, consumerism and elitism promoted by our culture.

If God’s seeds are watered and nourished…they will grow into a tree with deep roots that stretch to the never-ending stream which is God.

Does that describe your life?

Are you living God’s dream for you?

Now is the time to turn from all that stifles your spiritual growth…and turn toward your true nourishment…God.

Stop.

Rest.

Listen.

Open your heart.

Be still.

Be.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Listen to Your Heart” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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God Saves

Posted on February 24, 2016 by billtonnis

sunrise_forest_path

Let go and live.

~~~

Psalm 31:5-6
Free me from the net they have set for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, Lord, faithful God.

~~~

Sometimes it feels like everyone and everything is conspiring against us.

Sometimes we feel completely abandoned.

Jesus felt this.

When the Son of God was thoroughly rejected and hanging on the cross…he quoted Psalm 31: “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”

Life is a moment-by-moment “letting go.”

It’s a surrendering of the things we thought at one time were so important but which really aren’t important at all.

It will feel like dying.

When we “let go” of these “attachments” and turn ourselves over to the One who loves and sustains us…God redeems us. In other words…God restores us and makes us whole.

Only God can give us what we truly need.

Jesus showed us the way to new life. It’s the path of dying and rising.

The path may be a lonely one…but it’s the only path to becoming your true self.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Take the Road Less Traveled” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

 

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Dying and Rising

Posted on February 23, 2016 by billtonnis

sunset_mountains

Seeking to serve leads to fulfillment.

~~~

Matthew 23:11-12
“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

~~~

What Jesus is telling us is exactly the opposite of what our culture tells us.

It tells us to strive to be first…to be served…to beat all the competition…to win the applause of all…to seek to be the “American Idol.”

Jesus tells us to “die to ourselves”…as in “let go of our egos’ demands.”

It’s up to God to do any “exalting.”

Paradoxically…it’s in letting go of our self-centered motivation and in seeking to serve others…that we find our true selves and meaning of our lives.

Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mathew 10:39). We have a choice. God gave us free will for a reason.

Which way of life are you choosing to follow?

***

Listen to the song of the day “Glorify You with Me” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

 

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Abundantly Blessed

Posted on February 22, 2016 by billtonnis

flowers_hillside,bluesky

Let Love guide you.

~~~

Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.

~~~

Who or what is leading you in life?

Who or what is your motivating source?

Are you trying to please God or your ego…or others?

When we let go of our attachment to material or worldly things…in a sense “emptying ourselves”…we are allowing God to fill us with the Divine Presence. When God (or Total Unconditional Love) is our primary focus and we are totally present to God (or Total Unconditional Love)…we lack nothing.

Then…in this moment…we have all that we truly need.

A contemplative prayer practice will help you immensely. Try sitting quietly for 10 to 15 minutes…allowing all your thoughts to slowly slip away.

Be present to the Divine Presence…and you will lack nothing.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Breathe On Me” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Salvation

Posted on February 19, 2016 by billtonnis

sunlight_ocean

Love is the Source of all life.

~~~

Psalm 130:3-4

If you, Lord, mark our sins, Lord, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness and so you are revered.

***

If our loving Creator was actually a God marking our every fault and misstep…we would all be in deep trouble!

But Jesus told us if we know him…we also know God (John 8:19).

Did you ever see Jesus “marking” people’s sins? The Pharisees…the religious leaders themselves…were the only ones Jesus openly criticized because of their arrogance and self-righteousness. As for all the rest…we saw Jesus reaching out to them in love and forgiveness. And as the ultimate example of who God is…Jesus forgave his persecutors while nailed to a cross. He looked on all those who had just brutalized him and said:

“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

Is this the God you know…or has your ‘God image’ been of a punishing tyrant?

Scripture tells us: “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

That is my experience of the One who created me and all things.

Allow that understanding to sink into your soul.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Salvation” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Desires of the Heart

Posted on February 18, 2016 by billtonnis

fire_heart

May love be our motivation.

~~~

Matthew 7:7

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

***

It seems to me that many people approach God as more like a genie or Santa Claus figure…than a loving Creator.

But God is clearly not some “magic-granter-of-wishes.”

We clearly see that asking for any whim we have in mind is usually not granted. So what do we make of today’s scripture verse? If God is love then wouldn’t God want us to be happy? I say yes.

But what is true, lasting happiness?

The granting of wishes to satisfy our egos may bring happiness…but it will be superficial and fleeting. True happiness is at the “soul” level. I’m thinking that God would want you and me to know love and to be transformed by love so that we can be more loving.

Now that would be happiness!

Unfortunately, for that to happen usually requires some painful lessons. Each of us must learn that our egos are not the center of the universe.

Each of us is part of a larger whole.

We are required to act in “oneness” with all others and all creation or we will essentially be dysfunctional at the soul level. We are part of a great cosmic and divine dance. So…with that in mind…for what do I ask? What do I seek? On what door do I knock?

Is my motivation love…or selfish gain?

If we ask from this vantage point…we will be in the process of receiving and finding exactly what we need.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Shall We Sing” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

 

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Surrender to Grace

Posted on February 17, 2016 by billtonnis

sunset_grace

God loves us just as we are.

~~~

Psalm 51:18-19

For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept. My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.

***

Making a sacrifice is for our own benefit…not for God’s.

Letting go of our agenda frees us to take part in God’s agenda.

That can only lead us to freedom and happiness.

It is not so we can “earn points” with God. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s love. God already loves us beyond our wildest imagination…just as we are.

God loved us into existence. God has always loved us…and always will.

God loves us in our brokenness.

Bring your brokenness to your Loving Creator.

Jesus was not repulsed by the brokenness of others; he was drawn to it so he could reach out to them in mercy and love.

How else can anyone truly know what Unconditional Love is?

Loving God, I bring my brokenness to You today. Transform me by Your unconditional love and mercy…so that I might in turn extend the same to someone else.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Changed” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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Mercy Reigns

Posted on February 16, 2016 by billtonnis

jesus_good_shepherd

May love be the motivation of all our actions.

~~~

Psalm 34:19

The Lord is close to the broken-hearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed.

***

It seems this world rewards the “winners” and rejects the “losers.”

Our culture says that “winning is everything.”

Of course…that creates a LOT of losers.

But look what Jesus did in the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). He tells of the vineyard owner giving the same wages to the workers who arrived late in the day…as the workers who worked the whole day. When the first workers complained…the owner said, “Are you envious because I am generous?”

Jesus spoke of a gratuitously generous God who lavished love and mercy on all…because everyone is a beloved son or daughter of God. Jesus reached out to the leper, the blind, the lame…as well as the adulterer and the tax collector. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3).

Jesus…hanging on the cross…was the ultimate “loser” in the eyes of the world. But that was not the end. Through death there came resurrection and victory!

He showed us that God will be with us in our time of need…when our hearts are broken and our spirits are crushed…as well as in the shadow of death…

and He will lead us to new life.

***

Listen to the song of the day “Mercy Reigns” by clicking HERE.

Sample and/or purchase my songs by clicking HERE.

CD’s available for purchase at BillTonnisMusic.com by clicking HERE.

Remember…God loves you!

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